thedronegirl.com
MAY 15, 2016 SALLY FRENCH 14 COMMENTS
6 rotors. Collision prevention. Foldable arms. Retractable landing gear. 360-degree range of motion camera. The Yuneec Typhoon H has gone full beast mode.
It looks like a Tornado, but it’s priced like a Typhoon Q500. Meet, the Yuneec Typhoon H.
Buy it on B&H Photo for $1,299.
Buy it on Amazon.com for $1,128.99.
The $1,299 Yuneec Typhoon H is unlike any other drone in its price range that I have reviewed. It has the qualities you would expect for a professional level drone, but at a consumer price tag.
First things first: wipe the words quadcopter from your vocabulary if you’re referring to this. It’s a hexacopter (6 rotors), meaning it is able to continue flying with 5 rotors in case one fails. It also has quick-release propellers, which are easier to mount and dismount than the Q500 before it. The foldable arms also make it much easier to travel with.
But the gem of this copter is its collision prevention.The Typhoon H comes with two sonar sensors on the front, just above the camera, meaning it can sense and avoid objects in front of it.
Like its predecessor, the Q500, the drone has a 3-axis anti-vibration CGO3+ gimbal camera that produces 4K, ultra-stable high definition video and 12 megapixel images. What’s cool about this drone is it can be rotated through 360-degree range of motion. Which leads to the next new feature about the drone — retractable landing gear. The touch of one button on the controller and the landing gear can retract, ensuring that the legs never get in the frame of your shot.
The 360-degree range of motion camera is really important to me because — I’ll admit it — I’m TERRIBLE at flying nose-in. But sometimes, you need to photograph something behind you! This feature is perfect because it allows you to fly with ease while getting the shots you need — from any direction.
The Yuneec Typhoon H has a ton of flight modes. I’ve only flown the Typhoon H one day so far, so I’ll be honest — I didn’t even get to demo the other flight modes. Here they are in a nutshell (and I can’t wait for my next Flyday to continue trying them out myself!):
Journey Mode: Rises up to 150 feet high and then takes an aerial selfie.
Orbit Me Mode: Flies a circular path around you, keeping the camera trained on you the whole time.
Point of Interest Mode: Orbits a selected subject autonomously.
Curve Cable Cam: Flies between pre-set coordinates enabling the user to independently control the camera position.
Team Mode: Allows the pilot operate the drone separately by binding it to the Wizard, allowing the filmmaker to control the camera at the same time by binding it to the ST16 Ground Station.
Auto Take Off: Takes off with the tap of a button ground station.
All those features means the Typhoon H has a beast of a ground station too. One of the features I have always loved about Yuneec’s products vs. competitors is that it doesn’t require the drone to be linked to a smartphone. I can see the drone’s camera view directly from the 7-inch screen on the controller, and not mess around with my iPhone battery dying (which happens often). Everything you need to operate the drone comes in the box. The controller looks pretty complex, but it also means the user has options to use the modes described above as well as program fully autonomous flight and adjust camera settings.
Yuneec’s controller also has buttons like “H” which stands for home — as in flipping the switch will bring the drone right back to where it took off, and turtle/rabbit buttons to control the speed of the drone. Both are really handy when flying with beginners. I was flying in Golden Gate Park and got into a conversation with a passerby. He wanted to fly it, so I discretely flipped the switch to the turtle mode for safety.
The Typhoon H also comes with a free Wizard, a remote-like device that allows you to pilot with one hand. Yuneec says the Wizard, which retails on its own for $199, will only come with the Typhoon H for a limited time. Check out my Wizard review here (it’s a nifty little gadget).
I loved the Typhoon Q500 4K when I reviewed it in August. At the time, it cost $1,299 (the same price that the Typhoon H costs now). The Q500 4K is now down to $899.99.
If your budget, is under $1,000, I still love the Q500 4K and would highly recommend it for someone looking for professional footage.
But if you can afford the upgrade, it’s worth it for the retractable landing gear, extra autonomy and safety features in this drone. While in a perfect world the drone would have sensors on ALL sides, the two sonar sensors on the front of the drone are a huge leap in the direction of drones being able to make decisions for safe, autonomous flight. And they work! I tried flying the Typhoon H directly at my flying buddy (of course, DON’T try this at home) and the ground station won’t let the drone go any further, no matter how much throttle you give it. Filmmakers may also prefer upgrading to this over the Q500 for the retractable landing gear, which previously was only available with Yuneec’s $3,499 Tornado drone. That allows the camera to get a 360-degree shot and ensure the legs never appear in your footage!
Of course, someone with more money to invest and who is looking for ultra-high quality footage would likely still want to opt for the Tornado. The Tornado’s CGO4 gimbal camera incorporates a Panasonic GH4 micro four thirds camera sensor with a 3x optical zoom lens, housed on the 3-axis gimbal system. But, a hybrid Tornado and Typhoon H could end up being the ultimate super-safe, super-smart, high-quality camera in the air. I can’t wait to see if/when that comes out.
The battery flight time of the Typhoon H is 25 minutes. A second battery costs $109. I wish I timed it, but flying at full speed and a higher altitude meant slightly less time than 25 minutes. Also, the battery takes a long time to charge. I’m a pretty fast writer, but I wrote this review faster than how long it took to charge the next battery. (I would estimate about two hours to charge). I wish I had two batteries for this review!
The failsafe is useful. I actually tested this (yep!), and the controller can sense there is a rotor down and will prompt you to land — giving you a stern (ie. bold, red font) alert that not all 6 propellers are there. This is really a necessity for people looking to fly over crowds. I felt significantly more confident flying over trees or people in Golden Gate Park with this drone because I knew even if one prop went down, my drone wouldn’t come crashing through the air and get caught in a tree.
My complaint about this drone as a consumer ready copter is it is really large. I’m a tiny person, so I think smaller is better! I’ll write a DJI Phantom ($1,399) vs. Yuneec Typhoon face-off later, but I’ll give you a preview and say that the Phantom is much smaller. While size shouldn’t matter to professionals on a film shoot, a regular consumer might not want to pack this on a trip abroad or even tote along to a picnic.
The dimensions of the box it ships in are 21.2 x 17 x 12.5 inches. For comparison, American Airlines’ carry-on luggage dimension limit is 22 x 14 x 9 and Alaska Airlines’ is 24 x 17 x 10. (Of course, check with your airline and airport before traveling with a drone and its accompanying LiPo batteries). I use the same box the Phantom 4 came in as my carrying case. It’s perfect! However, while the Typhoon case is great for storage, it has a flimsy lid and no handle. Thus, it’s not ideal if you need to walk a long distance with it (walking from my apartment in downtown San Francisco, then down to the MUNI (our subway) and out to Golden Gate Park with this foam case wasn’t really the most comfortable experience.) I’m guessing Typhoon H users will end up buying a separate drone case.
This Yuneec Typhoon H is incredibly low-priced for an incredibly powerful piece of equipment. You’ll definitely want to spring for a case (Yuneec’s Typhoon H backpackretails for $149) and an extra battery ($109), which means realistically you’ll end up spending $1,557. Still, that’s a steal for a product that offers not only stable, high-quality video but also the security of failsafes and collision avoidance technology.
From the Wizard to all the flight modes to the 360-degree camera view, there is so much I want to try with this drone. Yuneec has been known to release perfect products, and they’ve done it again. It’s easy, it’s safe, it’s fun. Yuneec has also been known to price its products lower than its main competitor, DJI. (The similar Phantom 4 is $100 more than the Typhoon). You won’t find anything on the market that does this much for this low of a price. The competition better watch out — and look up. A drone of this quality and at this low of a price means the Typhoon H will be dominating the airspace.
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